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Mr. Monk and the Critic
Mr. Monk and the Critic is the sixth episode of the eighth season of Monk. Plot In a luxury hotel room, a young woman, Callie Esterhaus, emerges from the shower and is surprised to see someone she has been expecting has arrived early (the scene is shot from the point of view of the anonymous person). She greets him enthusiastically, saying she has already ordered room service, and gives him a bite of his favorite treat, a chocolate-covered strawberry. The mystery man guides her to the balcony, kneels, and offers a ring in a box (strangely, his hands are gloved). Callie is ecstatic, and says it is the best night of her life. The man caps it off by pushing her over the balcony to plunge to her death. One Hour Earlier: Adrian Monk and Natalie Teeger take their seats for a musical play in San Francisco. Natalie is excited because Julie is not only in the cast, but singing a solo ballad. Meanwhile, Monk sees an even more amazing performance: that of Gilson, the men's room attendant, whose eye for detail rivals Monk's, and who has made the bathroom into a shining palace. When Julie comes on, Natalie glances excitedly up to the balcony, where a critic for the San Francisco Chronicle has taken a box seat. Early in the hours of the very next morning, Monk and Natalie are called to the crime scene by Leland Stottlemeyer. Monk quickly reconstructs the scene, alerting Stottlemeyer to look for a fiance or boyfriend. Natalie is distracted, waiting for Disher to come back with a copy of the Chronicle's midnight edition. When he does, he is cagey, but Natalie snatches the paper and is incensed to read the review of the play, which calls Julie's performance "utterly forgettable." Julie appears to take the criticism stoically, but Natalie is inconsolable. Her obsessive grousing gets on Stottlemeyer's nerves as they are questioning the staff of the restaurant where Callie worked as a waitress, and he suggests she vent her spleen to the critic, John Hannigan, whose office is located a short distance away. Natalie takes the advice, and goes to see Hannigan. Hannigan gives her the brush-off, but Natalie comes back to the police station and insists that Hannigan is "the guy," based on clues she noticed. He is a regular patron at the restaurant where Callie worked; his name matches an anonymous "J." in Callie's address book; he wears the same cologne which Natalie claims she smelled in the hotel room, and he has one whopper of a motive: he is currently engaged to his publisher's daughter, and if he was dating Callie in secret, his career would have been ruined if the secret relationship ever came to light. Of course, Monk, Stottlemeyer, and Disher, think she has gone off the deep end over Hannigan's review. The one thing Hannigan doesn't have, they remind her, is opportunity. Though the theatre is located only a short distance from the hotel, Monk and Natalie both saw Hannigan in his seat, and he never left. Natalie is adamant that he must have left the theatre at some point - no one who actually saw Julie's singing could have written that review. When the others refuse to take her seriously, Natalie goes to extremes. A short time later, she calls Monk in the dead of night, having been arrested while going through Hannigan's garbage. Hannigan graciously agrees not to press charges, but Natalie refuses to give up. She "hires" Monk by refunding her latest paycheck back to him. Monk says it's moot, since the that first check will bounce, but she badgers him. Looking around the theatre, Monk notices a few suspicious signs: Hannigan normally sits in the orchaestra section, but on this occasion, for the first time, he reserved the box seat. Monk also notices that the light in the hallway outside the box has been unscrewed. Suspicious, but not conclusive. Monk takes a break and treats himself to another visit to the men's room. While there, he questions Gilson, about whether he saw anything unusual. Gilson says no, but is taken aback when Monk menntions Natalie's suspicions, which Monk now believes there may actually be something to. Later that evening, Gilson approaches Hannigan in the parking garage of the theatre, and asks him if he's involved in something sinister. Hannigan appears not to know what Gilson is talking about, but asks Gilson to help move something in his car - and then hits him brutally over the head. Monk and Natalie are called to the hospital, where Gilson is in a coma. When Natalie says Hannigan is the obvious suspect, Stottlemeyer is exasperated, but Monk, looking at Gilson's personal effects, notices a watch with a luminescent dial, and solves the case. Here's What Happened The man in the box during Julie's solo was Gilson, not Hannigan - Monk remembered seeing the man check his wristwatch when he glanced up, but Hannigan carries a pocket watch. Before the performance, Hannigan probably asked Gilson to take his place for a few minutes while Hannigan went outside to have a cigarette, since it would be bad form for him to be seen leaving in the middle of the show. Gilson obliged him, allowing Hannigan to run to the hotel, kill his mistress, and return in time for the curtain call. Natalie is gleefully triumphant, but Stottlemeyer reminds her that they have no evidence proving Hannigan's guilt. Monk begins to agree - then goes still and smiles, having realized how to trap Hannigan. Monk and Co. visit Hannigan at his office. Hannigan acts exasperated, but Stottlemeyer says they are there to question him about a different matter - an attempted date-rape. Disher escorts a young woman in, who claims that Hannigan bought her a drink at the restaurant, and the next thing she remembers, she was struggling with him in the parking lot. Baffled and scared, Hannigan swears positively that he has never seen the young woman before in his life - which is his fatal mistake, since the young woman is Julie, and Hannigan has just proved that he wasn't in the theatre during her solo. Hannigan is lost for a response, and he is arrested. A few days later, Natalie and Julie are overjoyed to receive an acceptance letter for Julie to attend UC Berkeley's performing arts school. Quotes Natalie: I don't know how he did it, but he did it. Randy: (indicates Monk) That's what he always says. Adrian Monk: Okay, don't hug me. You're going to want to hug me, but don't hug me. Natalie: Why? Monk: You were right, he's the guy. Natalie: (hugs Monk) Oh, I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! (after the summation) Natalie: (raising her hand) Excuse me? May I say something? (Monk nods.) Natalie: (dancing around, poking Stottlemeyer and Disher in the midriff) I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! Category:Monk Episodes